Blog

Author: Kelly Forster

Great Food at Leeds (GFAL) is delighted to announce that it has received the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s highest accolade, a three-star ‘Food Made Good’ sustainability rating. The team achieved an overall score of 70% over three main categories; Sourcing, Society and Environment.

Beverley Kenny MBE, Deputy Director of Commercial Services, said “Receiving the highest rating at the first attempt is a fantastic achievement. It is a reflection of the commitment of the entire team and the hard work they do every day, ensuring the catering service supports the sustainable aims and objectives of the University. We look forward to using the feedback from the Sustainable Restaurant Association report to guide improvements in sustainability across our catering outlets”.

“The University of Leeds is proud to be an international university which has sustainability at the heart of what we do. Being part of the ISCN will allow us to further enhance our dialogue and knowledge about best practice in sustainability and to be part of a global education community working to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.” Sir Alan Langlands, Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds

The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) provides a global forum to support leading colleges, universities, and corporate campuses in the exchange of information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.

In 2009, the ISCN partnered with the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), a World Economic Forum initiative bringing together the heads of 26 top global universities, to develop the Sustainable Campus Charter, which organizes campus sustainability into 3 core principles, requires a commitment at the highest level of the institution, and includes annual reporting on sustainability goals, initiatives, and performance.

To date, over 90 Members represent top-tier colleges and universities from over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

“We are delighted to welcome The University of Leeds into the ISCN and look forward to providing a platform for international value exchange and partnership on campus sustainability,” says Bernd Kasemir, Secretary of the ISCN Board.

Do you want to play a key role in creating a truly sustainable university? Do you have significant experience of working in a senior sustainability role combined with a proven ability to lead and manage others? Are you passionate about having a positive impact on society whilst effectively driving forward institutional change?

This year, Masters students taking the Commercial and Professional Skills module at Leeds University Business School were given the opportunity to work with the Sustainability Service as part of a consultancy project!

Posing as internal consultants, student groups were tasked to review the student and staff awareness of sustainability initiatives across the University and develop recommendations that could improve people’s knowledge of the Sustainability Strategy and what they can get involved in.

After initial meetings with members of the Sustainability team, groups went away and collected data using a questionnaire to gain a better understanding of people’s sustainability knowledge and activities that are already taking place. They also reviewed specific areas of engagement by the University, using their results to highlight gaps for improvement and make recommendations.

The student’s proposals ranged from utilising social media trends and behaviours, to increasing visibility on campus, and tailoring campaigns for specific audiences.

This is just one of the ways we are integrating sustainability into student learning as part of our commitment to giving all students the opportunity to study and be involved in sustainability.

The Sustainable Garden was created in 2013, and is open to staff, students and members of the public. Regular gardening sessions can be viewed on our events page and are open to all. These sessions allow volunteers to learn new skills in growing food and to inspire people to try it at home. The food is intended to be picked; instructions of what can be picked, and how to pick, are clearly signposted throughout the garden with a bespoke ‘traffic-light’ system.

Bodington Playing Fields had a £5m investment in 2017 to create world class sports facilities. It is home to The Brownlee Centre which is the UK’s first purpose-built triathlon training centre and sits alongside a 1 mile (1.6km) cycle circuit, one of the longest in the country.

Alongside the cycling and triathlon facilities, there are a large number of sports pitches which are regularly used by students who are part of our Leeds Gryphons Sports Clubs and Social League Teams as well as staff members and the local community. Bodington Playing Fields are located just three miles north of the main University of Leeds campus and compliment the nearby Sport Park Weetwood.

The 1 mile (1.6km) cycle circuit is one of the longest in the country, providing a safe traffic free environment for cyclists of all abilities, and a good place to head out for some fun on your University of Leeds hire bike!

The Vice-Chancellor has signed the UN SDG accord. The accord, firstly, is to inspire, celebrate and advance the critical role that education has in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the value it brings to governments, business and wider society.

Secondly, the Accord is a commitment learning institutions are making to one another to do more to deliver the goals, to annually report on each signatory’s progress, and to do so in ways which share the learning with each other both nationally and internationally. An objective is that sector SDG reporting metrics will be presented at the annual UN High-Level Political Forum.

The University has moved into the top five in this year’s Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey, from sixth position last year, to fourth this year.

Every year, the Times Higher Education survey asks students across the UK to give their views about their university on a range of issues, from the quality of teaching and how well-structured the courses are, through to accommodation and support and welfare.

Our facilities, activities and societies and services such as security on campus, student welfare and support all feature particularly strongly. In the survey the students voted Leeds third for its facilities, including quality, convenience, library/opening hours, shop and bar amenities, and sports facilities.

Creating a hub on campus where our students can relax and enjoy great food and drink is incredibly important to us. Our offer on campus complements that provided by Leeds University Union. Over the last year we have opened two new cafes on campus, PURE café and the Edit Room, which provide modern and inviting environments for our students. We also have plans to build on this great work by refurbishing some of older cafes later this year.